Newbie Question

Question

I'm getting a little confused with prepositions. In spanish there seems to be multiple words for the same preposition. For instance with "a" and "que"

Tengo que harcelo= I want to have it.

but Vamos a comer= We are going to eat.

Why a and not que?

Thanks for your advice.

Answer 1

Both of your sentences contain a periphrasis (a phrase used to convey a meaning rather than a single verb)

Tener que+verb infinitive=to have to+whatever the verb is

Ir+a+verb infinitive= to be going to +whatever the verb is

So the que and a there are specific to those periphrases.

Tengo que hacerlo= I want to have it. [I have to do it.]

Thank you. I am sorry about the typo from above. - ionisme, Apr 10, 2011